Pomegranate Benefits
A Brief Compilation of Pomegranate Benefits
There has been a lot of talk lately about pomegranate benefits. How much is just talk, and how much is truth?
Pomegranates grow without cultivation from northern India to Iran, but they are also grown commercially in the Middle East, India, California and southern Europe. In Israel, scientists have been doing research on pomegranate benefits for quite a few years, and now other scientists are joining the research, from many different world areas.
How are pomegranates “healthy”, and how do they help us? Researchers have reported that they have a positive amount of antioxidants in them that can help decrease or eliminate the oxidation of bad (LDL) cholesterol. This was reported in 2000 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. This breaking down of LDL cholesterol is purported to be a positive step in slowing the onset of atherosclerosis. Also, pomegranate juice has properties like aspirin, which can help to keep blood platelets from clustering to form dangerous blood clots.
Recently, researchers have discovered another of a growing list of pomegranate benefits. Eight ounces of the juice every day for three months has proven to improve the amount of oxygen that gets to the heart, in patients who suffer from coronary disease. Additional research has uncovered that if you consume pomegranate juice for a long period of time, you can improve your chances of not contracting erectile dysfunction.
Investigators today are also exploring the possibility that compounds of pomegranate can help prevent cancer, or at least show down its growth. In studies with mice, treated with extract of pomegranate, it delayed the development of some tumors, and raised their survival rate. Some research also suggests that another of the most important pomegranate benefits is a reduction in the risk of breast cancer after long-term drinking of the juice.
The lessening of arthritis inflammation may be another way that pomegranates help us. Scientists have discovered that pomegranate extract causes a positive influence on human cartilage cells. Inflammation was reduced in their studies, and the types of enzymes that can break down joint cartilage become less active. This research still has a long way to go, but experts confess that pomegranate might help, and it definitely won't hurt.
Pomegranate juice has been used to aid in the treatment of diarrhea for many years. There isn't any research to back up the results, but people have reported relief. Don't use too much juice, though, because it can have the opposite effect and cause you to become constipated.
Pomegranate juice can interfere with some medications, just as grapefruit juice does, so if your doctor has advised you not to drink grapefruit juice, it's wise not to drink pomegranate juice either.